Western Front Map Embraces Three Continents
A A notable addition to the long list of
National Geographic maps now aiding
the Nation's armed forces and en
lightening our membership of 1,165,000, The
Society presents with this issue an extraordi
nary supplement, "Theater of War in Europe,
Africa, and Western Asia." *
Really three maps in one, this unusual
presentation makes it possible to follow on a
single sheet the vast storm of war which cen
ters around its guilty place of origin in Central
Europe but reaches out into the steppes of
Russia, the deserts and jungles of Africa, and
the icy seas of the Arctic.
Military planners, armchair strategists,
those who make the news and those who fol
low it with maps, will find it no longer neces
sary to struggle with three or four large sheets.
Here on one sheet, 26/ x 31 inches, they can
watch the limits of Hitler's world begin to
close in about him.
In this war of immense distances the entire
area might be designated as the Western Front
as contrasted to the Eastern Front, shown in
The Society's recent map "Theater of War in
the Pacific Ocean" (February, 1942).
In view of the growing A. E. F.'s and Presi
dent Roosevelt's recent statement that Ameri
can bombers would be carrying the war to the
enemy, this front will become increasingly
familiar to American fighting men.
Showing principal railroads, canals, oil pipe
lines, and oil fields as well as cities, the area
contains many a potential "target for tonight."
Numbers of military centers have already been
repeatedly battered by the Royal Air Force
in the greatly intensified British aerial offen
sive, or raided by the daring, dexterous Com
mandos.
No Such Map, So We Made One
The new map was undertaken to meet a
demonstrated need, to fulfill a function that
no other single map serves.
Behind it lies a story which begins some six
months ago, about, the time of Pearl Harbor.
Like many other officers in the Nation's armed
services, a keen young United States Army Air
Force lieutenant (now a major), came to the
headquarters of the National Geographic So
ciety in quest of geographic information.
His needs were promptly filled-except one.
He requested a map which would show the en
tire theater of war against Hitler on a uniform
scale-not only Europe, the Mediterranean,
and the Near East but also the sea and air
approaches from America, much of Asia, and
Africa all the way to its equatorial jungles.
No such map existed, but in view of the
obvious need among laymen as well as military
men, the Editors of the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
MAGAZINE assigned the crack cartographers
of The Society to the task of preparing one.
From Newfoundland Airport, through which
the flooding stream of American bombers pours
out to Europe, the map area extends to
Irkutsk, busy Soviet industrial center in the
Lake Baikal region of Siberia. From the
North Pole it reaches to below the Equator,
touching Diego Suarez in Madagascar and
extending eastward to India's Karachi and
Khyber Pass. The western edge includes
Dakar, the Cape Verde Islands, Canaries,
and Azores.
The map is made on an azimuthal equi
distant projection centered at 20 east longi
tude, 40 north latitude, which is in Albania
and squarely in the center of the map area.
From this focal point in the vital Mediter
ranean battle region, all distances and direc
tions are true.
An Hour's Bomber Flight to the Inch
The scale of the new map is 1:15,000,000.
This is 236.7 miles to the inch, which is ap
proximately the hourly cruising speed of the
modern bomber. Thus with a ruler the user
of the map can closely approximate the flying
time from point to point, allowing one inch to
the hour.
In other important respects this map will
appeal to the skilled United States airmen who
have long been using Geographic maps.
Many of them have aided in its making. One
of the first officers to see the original layout
prepared by Chief Cartographer James M.
Darley was Brigadier General Martin "Mike"
Scanlon, then chief of Army Air Corps Intelli
gence in Washington but recently reported to
have led a successful bomber raid on Rabaul
in faraway New Britain.
By merely glancing at this map the flyer
can tell the type of terrain toward which he
is heading, for elevations are shown by contour
lines and distinct tints instead of by the
hachures ordinarily used.
High mountains (above 2,000 meters, or
6,562 feet) are indicated by a conspicuous
brown .tint which makes the ranges stand out
clearly. In addition to the contours showing
approximate heights, the map includes many
* Members wishing additional copies of the new
map, "Theater of War in Europe, Africa, and Western
Asia," may obtain them by writing the National
Geographic Society, Washington, D. C. Prices, in
United States and Possessions, 50¢ on paper (un
folded); $1 on linen; Index, 25¢. Outside of United
States and Possessions, 75¢ on paper; $1.25 on linen;
Index, 50¢. All remittances payable in U. S. funds.
Postage prepaid.